Where, oh where has my Mari gone?

Mari has gone away...permanently, I think. She's been replaced by a much older, much more sophisticated Amari. That's Ah.Mar.Ee. Please note this.

I've been meaning to do a post lately about the way Amari is blossoming - another one of those developmental explosions, I guess. Today I think the explosion turned into all out glorious fireworks - beautiful, amazing, breath-taking, and always surprising.

So here's the low-down on my BIG girl. (Which BTW, she asked me tonight if I was growing down into a little girl since she was growing up into a big girl....I told her I'd meet her half-way!).

• Eating - Sippy cups are gone. We have 1-2 we use for times of emergency (like strep throat last week) and we have lots of plastic cups with lids...but Mari likes a regular cup. No more booster seats....Mari sits at the table on her own, on her knees but that's fine (she actually seems less wiggly that way). Mari has also become a great help in the kitchen...she usually tells me what to cook for supper (after I ask her) and she's pretty good with ideas. She loves helping and can hand-roll pizza dough, spread sauce, and add toppings all on her own. She can also run the hand mixer by herself (as long as you watch her to make sure she doesn't try to stick a hand in the batter for a taste while the mixer is still running).
• Stats - Mari has grown over an inch and a half since her birthday in March but she has stayed within 2 pounds for over a year....that means that she not only has a long graceful neck, but she sprouted legs too!
• Potty-training - She's been completely potty-trained for over a year now (thank you!) but she's completely independent now except wiping for #2. I don't even go in the bathroom anymore or remind her to go. It's extremely nice. Extremely. Unfortunately, thanks to lots of outside time this summer, she's developed a fascination with peeing on the grass. Oh well. She's 3, no one cares.
• Brains - not sure where to begin with this one. She BLOWS ME AWAY! She can count to 59 without any help and up to 100 with a little assistance (60, 70, 80, 90). She can also recognize these numbers. She has finished all her letters and even told me the other day to draw her a d.o.g. We are working hard on sounding out full words now (3-letter words). She passed her alphabet today at school (YAY!!!) - this means she knows capitals, lowercases, phonics, and can pick out words starting with that letter. She will be moving up into the Advanced Class at school because of this...this is the last class level before Kindergarten and we are still 2 years away from that! Holy Cow! She will now work on writing more....she can almost write her name now!
• Physical stuff - physically, Mari has always been a little behind but I don't notice it much anymore. She has actually started throwing a ball fairly accurately (forget catching, though!). She loved swimming lessons but I was a little disappointed they didn't push her more....she always says "no" when asked if she wants to try something new but will usually do it if you insist (and then love it) - but they won't push the kids at this level. But after a few days of playing in our pool this week, Mari decided tonight to just duck under and swim (and yesterday she refused to put her face in the water!!). And she did it over and over and over again.

So that's my girl...not so little anymore. So sad but I'm a very proud Mommy. I've never taken time to do a full-out attachment post but the difference in Mari lately has been nothing short of a dream-come-true. She is super snuggly, she has actually slept with me several nights (we've never made it a whole night before, she usually can't sleep with someone else), she is very touchy-feely and just all-around wants to be hugged on and loved on. I'm definitely NOT complaining about having a velcro kid right now. At the same time, she's very independent. I sense a new confidence in her.

Funny things:

• Mari calls parmesan cheese sprinkles - Pasketti and meatballs and sprinkles. Not going to correct that one, I love it.
• Mari has decided that ambulances should be "Band-aid Trucks" - I'm okay with that too.
• We stopped and saw my dad at work tonight and Mari was very worried that Grandma was home alone because Granddad was at work.
• I told Mari tonight that Grandma was going to pick her up from school tomorrow and she said "Pretty Sweet" with a thumbs-up.
• When Mari is being silly, I say "You're a nut." She now counters with "Well, you're a coconut."
• When Mari's happy, she gives me a thumbs-up, I give her a thumbs-up, we touch thumbs and she say "Best Buddies, Mommy?" And I say "Best Buddies Forever.